The Beatles: Rock Band Review (360)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! THE BEATLES! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

It’s fair to say that after 3 years taking up much room in gamers apartments/houses/hovvells, Rock Band really doesn’t need an introduction, and even fairer to say that after over 40 years, The Beatles well and truly left their mark in history, making this opening paragraph a tad tricky. Needless to say, it looks like Beatlemania has hit us again with re-mastered CD’s, merchandise and The Beatles: Rock Band occupying the shelves, spare the screaming women who these days are probably too busy with their…Jay-Z and Bananarama…and all that…

Instead of plonking you in one of the charismatic Liverpudlians shoes for a couple of songs to rack up a high score, The Beatles: Rock Band takes you through the short, yet undeniably influencial career of the band, from the cluttered gatherings at ‘The Cavern’, to the studio sessions at ‘Abbey Road’ before capping it all off with the final performance on ‘The Apple Corps. Rooftop’.

Those who have felt the constant wave of fake instruments haven’t been enough to hurt their wallets can rejoice in the new selection of Fischer Price replicas, built for no other purpose than to look damn snazzy. In all fairness, there’s only so far you can go with technological advancements in drum and guitar technology, so the logical step forward now is just to make everything look lovely. Singers, however, can rejoice in the fact that their purchase will also earn them a microphone stand, handy for those intuitive ones who can blurt out lyrics whilst strumming/flicking away.

Speaking of all those lyrical linguists out there, The Beatles: Rock Band can cater for up to three singers at any one time thanks to the new ‘Harmonies’ addition. Instead of glossing over the fact that often bands have back-up singers, Harmonix have allowed those with multiple microphones to gather multiple humans together for a melodic sing-song. The singing system practically remains the same as in other Rock Band games, the lyrics scroll across the screen as do corresponding bars for the pitches in which players have to hit in order to score well and avoid embarrassment. The presentation is a lot more clear-cut here in order to make away for 1 or even 2 more pitch bars in correspondence for harmonies if chosen. Despite sounding complicated, the presentation allows group sing-songs easy to read and all can easily find their parts to sing. If players wants to do well, however, a few group practices are needed in order for players to get used to their parts and to truly get a rewarding experience.

It’s hard to find a duff song amongst the crowd of 43, but the small amount will lead to many declaring that their ‘faves’ should have made it through. “Where’s Help!“, ” What about Yesterday?” and many more statements came from my housemates mouths. These may have just been poor excuses to stay away from the beckoning of the microphone, but I could see their points. Although classics have made their way in, classics have been left out, presenting a void that will surely be filled by downloadable content, creating another void in your wallet that Harmonix are responsible for.

The song count may seem a bit disappointing, but once you start delving into the game, you find that the artistic touches more than compensate and the subtle extras in no way shorten its lifespan. The early years and set lists show The Beatles biggest live performances, and don’t differ that much from what was displayed in previous Rock Band titles, except for the fact that you’re constantly shown the faces of screaming girls and one particularly amusing moment where one fan got floored by several police officers. Later on you enter Abbey Road for the studio based years and this is really where the game shines. For hard rock and progression songs such as Hey Bulldog and Helter Skelter, the visuals of recording sessions are diced up with various filters and effects to make the experience more edgy and glossy, whereas songs from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band era transport the band into a psychedelic pastel coated world in iconic attire. Artistically, the game shines on every level, managing to truly encapsulate the imagery of The Beatles back in the late 60’s, and gives this addition to a now over-saturated market of games a unique quality to it.

Certain to get everyone a little Beatlemanic again

Completing songs doesn’t just earn you more songs to repeat the process. With each success comes previously unseen photographs, accompanied by genuinely interesting tid-bits that you couldn’t find on Wikipedia, and earning more and more photographs gains you rare video footage. The achievement system is also worth an honourable mention, with a good mix of challenging achievements which can earn players gamer pictures as well as shiny instrument icons…which will appeal if you’re an egotistical budgie…which I am.

When it comes to music rhythm games, some are in it for the soundtrack and some are in it for the experience. The Beatles: Rock Band is the first which mixes both perfectly. Despite missing some obvious classics, no song is a bore to play through on any instrument. The ability to sing along with others makes the game less of an embarrassment to play on vocals and is truly a joy to play. With the 40th anniversary of Abbey Road in everyone’s minds, however, this has to be the perfect celebration of The Beatles musical career. You could fail to recite the names of all the members, and still find it incredibly hard not to be drawn in by the up most enthusiasm for music Harmonix have put into this title. The small facts that sound like they come first hand from memoirs of Paul and Ringo themselves, the sound-bites taken from specific shows, the artistic detail in the studio sequences all comes together brilliantly to make a perfect respect to both the Rock Band series and The Beatles, and is certain to get everyone a little Beatlemanic again…